Two planes in emergency landings at Amsterdam Schiphol

4th March 2013, 0 comments

Two airliners, one operated by Delta and one by KLM, made separate emergency landings at Schiphol airport Monday shortly after taking off from the Amsterdam hub, officials said, with no injuries reported.

"This morning two planes contacted us who because of technical problems and as a precaution wanted to return and land at Schiphol," Bertine Langelaan of Air Traffic Control the Netherlands told AFP.

"Emergency services were deployed but that is standard in this kind of incident," she said, adding that the planes concerned were operated by KLM and Delta.

Dutch media reported that the Delta plane was an Airbus A330 headed for Mumbai in India which developed engine trouble, while the KLM plane was headed to Milan and turned back after a report of smoke in the cockpit.

Delta spokeswoman Debbie Egerton confirmed the incident, telling AFP the Airbus had 239 passengers on board when it took off at around 10:15 am (0915 GMT). She did not specify the nature of the technical problem.

KLM spokesman Joost Ruempol said a Boeing 737-800 bound for Milan returned to the airport with technical problems shortly after taking off at 10:30 am (0930 GMT), but he too declined to give details.